By Rungano Dzikira

Zimtrade has set to reignite the country’s leather sector with the Chinese market following years of suppressed exports receipts, as the country intensifies its efforts to energize exports in the country to compete with at international level.

Speaking during an exporters’ conference in the capital, Zimtrade chief executive, Allan Majuru said that the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC)’s recent engagement with the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade, had opened up new avenues for the abandoned sector to be resuscitated.

“The leather industry has over the years been abandoned largely due to non-viability of the market. As such, this prospect of having an available market for our products also means more players can come on board,” he said.

Zimtrade Export Development Manager, Tendai Marume also added that knowledge transfer was crucial in increasing Zimbabwe’s exports and this workshop would equip those in the leather industry on the whole value chain, and potential international market.

Exports of hides and skins have fallen in recent years to below 4%, yet leather is ranked very high as an export commodity in several African countries, with the countries’ tanning capacity having fallen from 9,2% to 6,8%.

Zimtrade further noted that there was need to continue improving the export climate in the country and had since made strides towards synergizing efforts from different stakeholders in the industry in order to achieve significant export growth.

In an effort to rebut these efforts, Zimtrade says it will also continue on extensive exporters’ conferences countrywide where stakeholders can then network, share ideas and discuss solutions to drive Zimbabwe’s exports.